Aug 24, 2013

What would you have me do?


Much of life is hard, and we ask “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Then we must believe in the beauty of Romans 8:28 ‘all things work for good, for those who love God. . .’ to cope with the hard knocks.  At least for now, I can confidently say, I know God will work things out for His will to be done.  This recent study though caused me to reflect on the question I struggle with, “What would God have me do in His service?”

"Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, 'Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.' " Joshua 1:11

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.  Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.” Philippians 2:12-16

Focus on this question, prayer, and reading did not result in a definite answer, but some principles are very apparent from the Bible. 

1.         We are called to work for the gospel.  The Great Commission calls us all to go into the world declaring the gospel.  In Philippians above, it says God works is us so we will desire, and do (works) for his good pleasure. (We are not working to gain the gospel, but furthering it in His service.)

2.         God gives us a work to do.  Each believer is delivered a gift from the Holy Spirit, and this gift is to be exercised in the church body.  God declares that His gifts are to build the body into fullness.  It is also important to note that it is not ‘What I want to do’ but God who gives the assignments.  He equips you along the way.

3.         Only a select few are called into full-time service, but everyone is called into service.  Christians are to be a nation of priests because of our lives in front of others; above it says ‘in the midst of a crooked . . . generation.’    Our secular work should be above reproach so that we would be called ‘blameless.’  This will cause us to be a shining light in the darkness, and when we are asked why, we can say we are working for God.  ‘Holding fast the Word of life’ will allow scripture to encourage us in discouraging days, praise God for His provisions, and give us words to speak with opportunity.  ‘Possess the Land!’

Aug 17, 2013

Church of the Future?

What will the Church look like in 5 or 15 years?  If you have not thought about that recently, or ever; I invite you to stop reading, ponder about this, and pray.  Today’s teaching wants to remind you, that this is what God leaves us on Earth to do. 

   Throughout scripture, and common knowledge also, we find that the actions of today produce the results of tomorrow.  The seeds we plant, result in the type of fruit on the vine tomorrow.  The road we choose to follow, determines the destination we arrive at later.  There are a number of things we must do in the meantime also, watering the seeds and course correcting to stay on the path.  When we choose to plant the seeds of God, and water them with the Living Water, God then blesses the harvest with bountiful fruit. 

   Borrowing 3 questions from a fellow pastor, Ron Edmondson of Lexington, we can weigh our goals and direct our paths. http://www.biblestudytools.com/blogs/ron-edmondson/3-questions-to-formulate-a-life-plan-for-2013.html

1. Where do we want to go? This is the goal itself, the point we look at to determine if we are headed in the right direction. 

2. How are we going to get there?  Unless your goal is to stay the same, there are changes that need to be made, and processes established in order to accomplish the goal.

3. Are we willing to pay the price?  Like Pastor Edmondson, this is where we fall off so often.  We can have a good goal, and see what needs to be done; yet that does no good if we stay put and do nothing.

“36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.  37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain--perhaps wheat or some other grain.  38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.  39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh  of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. “ 1 Corinthians 15: 36-39

What about us? What are we trying to sow? And are we ready to put for the effort to get there?  We must weigh the money we spend, the actions we take, the activities we participate in (and plan), against the goals.  We can setup milestones, and mini-goals as points to measure against, and keep us on the right path.  These will help us measure, because those things left unmeasured often are left undone.  If everything lines up we go forward.  If we do not judge each thought and action, we will very likely end up going in circles. 

Aug 9, 2013

Intentional Work

My name is A.J., and I am a people pleaser.  When someone makes a request of me, I intend to help them in whatever way I can.  If it means working late to finish a project before someone goes on away on vacation.  Sometimes it means cleaning up the field after a soccer game, or even rearranging my whole schedule.  There are times when this creates a situation where moments are very precious, and great intention goes into every action and motion.  If the action doesn’t help accomplish the tasks at hand, it waits until later. Priorities and timelines are examined to design the optimal order of intention.

“And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Romans 14:23

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

The intention of these verses is obvious; God is pleased by faith in Him.  When we show faith in God to those around us, they are encouraged to find out why.  It shows we believe what He said, that He is important to us and able to be trusted.  As we explain why we have faith in God, it allows us to witness to others.  We are instructed to share about God, yet we are often timid and haphazard how we share with others.   We instead wait for God to show us a ‘sign’ and a ‘leading’ for us to open our mouths for Him.  Completely unintentional.

As we examine these New Testament verses, Paul says, “whatsoever is not of faith is sin,” and “do all to the glory of God.”  In light of my tendency to abandon tasks not related to the goal at hand, we could say that these verses tell us, that we should all quit our jobs and follow God.  After all Jesus called the disciples to leave their jobs, maybe we should also.  While some people do get a calling to abandon all even today, these verses have edification for all of us. 

Rather than abandon everything which doesn’t immediately connect us to God (like mowing the lawn, packing cups, or watching kids) we should incorporate motives from God into the ordinary tasks of the day.  Ask as you work, how can I do this to show God’s great workmanship?  Or show his wonderful creation?  Can I show these kids how God loves me, and them?  If we can do this, we should find God’s refreshing.  We will not be refreshed because our bosses are happy (they may not be happy) but because the Lord is pleased in our faith. 

For more thoughts look at this article from Desiring God's blogs: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/whatever-is-not-from-faith-is-sin-really

Aug 3, 2013

Diversity in the Church

What should the church worship look like?  How should the Word be preached and taught?  How should the church (as a whole) serve the community? Most importantly, what does the Bible say about each of those questions?

"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Acts 2:42

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh."   This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.  Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Eph. 5:31-33

“But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Col 3:14-17

In response to Bro. Dwayne’s preaching from Wednesday night, much pondering has taken place about the diversity within our church.  A recent periodical from 9Marks ministries also speaks a lot about the guidance of scripture within our church gatherings and worship; discussing the diversity of worship styles and service within our world churches today.  More questions than answers are below, but would love to discuss with anyone.

Music in the church spans from exclusive use of the Book of Psalms as worship music, to complete use of modern repetitive choruses, or even secular songs; and use of hymns from the last century somewhere in the middle.  I want to lean toward a strict regulative view, where the church only does things that are authorized in scripture, yet there are many areas where the scriptures are intentionally not descriptive. 

We find many of the same questions when it comes to ministry through the church.  We obviously find that teaching the Word, feeding and care for widows and orphans, participating in the ordinances and sending a collection to the needs of others and churches, are essential to the ministry of a church body.  Yet we have questions about showing movies, having skits/drama, paintings, counseling ministries, coffee shops, and any number of other things designed to show the love of God to others. 

I personally have a heart that believes that anyone wishing to glorify Christ should be able to lift Him up in essentially anyway they can justify biblically (so that should remove sinful practices, such as robbing a bank to fund a mission trip.)  Yet I experienced a twist when reading in the 9Marks journal.  It expressed that if a church chooses to institute a method into its worship service, or endorsed ministry, that the church has essentially forced all members to worship in this same fashion.  I am not prepared to tell everyone at Rowletts that we must all sing songs from a particular hymnal exclusively.  We have a diverse group that can proclaim the gospel through many forms.  Praise the Lord for the ministry of the Kings, which have tried to walk a delicate line, mixing the hymns of many centuries ago through contemporary songs also.  I deeply enjoy some songs, while others I try to focus on the truths within the song, more than the song itself. 

Switching to ministry, we must separate personal service of church members verses ministry of the entire church.  Like the music above we should not seek to force people to minister in a method which they are convinced is sinful.  Yet ministry to kids differs from senior adults, and ministries designed to mature the saints differ from those to reach the lost.  Each minister must examine their service to the scriptures, and hold strongly to it.  If the focus moves from the scripture to the person we try to reach, we are at best walking on thin ice; at worst making a ‘disciple of hell’ like the Pharisees. 

This has been a large jumble of thoughts, but I also reflect the scripture in Ephesians, which references marriage, while instructing the church of its responsibilities.  A husband leaves his family and joins his bride and the two become one.  Does this correspond with a believer joining a church?  As a believer joins a church, how much should they leave their own traditions and tendencies behind, and join to the principles and emphasis of the church body?  Yet this leads to a church body preparing a defined group of core principles and excluding things outside of those principles? 

Who’s ready to wade through these prayerfully, so we can see Jesus in his glory?